Rail Bands: how do YOU make them?

General Discussion
1

I know theres tons of info in the archives on this, but how do you personally do it for a new shape?

The more i seem to read/see about it, the more confused i get. Is there a way you set an angle and do it? What’s with opening and closing the planer?

I started to work on 'em last night, mowed one sweep with the planer and then panicked and called it a night. ARGGH!

It seems difficult without proper lighting (i’m shaping outside). So i’ve been doing some amateurish doodles (see pics).

2

roughly 5’9 x 18 3/4" x 2 1/4"

3

http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=283405;guest=6991866#283405 this helped me out a lot. and it’s funny, because today i just made this tool to help me keep a constant angle. but on my first board, i just used a surform.

4

sorry, the pic was too big before…

5
Quote:
http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=283405;guest=6991866#283405 this helped me out a lot.

wow. down to a science.

the outer bands are easy to me. i’ve already done them. but it’s the inner ones that give me difficulty.

6

…man, you need shadows and light to work a good shape…

you dont need those line marks, only some points marked or nuthin at all

so, with the lights, shadows; leveled racks; modified planer; sharpie eyes; some point marks (if you wants); contrast paint in the walls; youve got all to do the rails

ok, I understand that may be is your first attemp or so, but believe me, you need to develop an eye

spend more time but do the rails in that way

soon you ve got pretty decent rails.

near the nose (if the shape has lot of rocker) and near the tail you can finish (to safety) the rails with a surform.

how many rails bands depends on the rail shape (full, semi full, down rails, egg, box, etc)

-if you re affraid to screw up all

only do sharp passes (more time consumed but more safety)

the “inner” band blend it with the rocker

7

the lines wont hurt really, but points will do with decent lighting… but we cant all have the perfect setup, so if the lines help then use them, but you probably dont need to take them all way to the nose and tail, just the meaty area…

either way i say use them if it helps, if there are still lines left after doing the bands (there will be if you go all around the board with the lines )then just sand them off, and blend it all together…

8

railbands are like picking your nose. everyone does it… so that said, if you don’t dig to far and long you should have any problems

for real though, for the top band sometimes I will use the same template I used for the shape or I will use a bigger template to make my rail band lines. for blending the top to the bottom rails is where the real art of shaping takes place and takes time to develop. if are doing a few boards you can do it without side directional lights, just use your hands to feel out the shape. don’t over think it.

Ben. There